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On Thursday, May 9, 2024, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) issued an addendum to its Interconnection Process Enhancements (IPE) Track 2 Final Proposal, and issued a revised version of that addendum on May 17.  Track 2 focuses on modifications to the interconnection and queue management processes to address the substantial interconnection request volumes in…

Background

The California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) recently issued Interconnection Process Enhancements (IPE) final proposal[1] provides heightened requirements to complete an interconnection request and relies on scoring criteria to determine which projects advance to the interconnection study process. Due to the proposed 150% cap on specific interconnection zones, not all interconnection requests in each…

Summary

On March 29, 2024, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) released the Track 2 final proposal for its Interconnection Process Enhancements (IPE) initiative. The proposed changes in the IPE proposal aim to address the “unprecedented and unsustainable interconnection request volumes” in the CAISO.  CAISO proposes to adopt a zonal approach that prioritizes project interconnection in areas with existing or planned transmission capacity, to cap the number of projects permitted to proceed into the study process at 150% of the available and planned transmission capacity in specific zones, and adopt scoring criteria for eligibility and prioritization in the interconnection study process. Continue Reading CAISO Releases Interconnection Process Enhancements Final Proposal

On November 16, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) voted to adopt a decision resolving the remaining issues in the Net Energy Metering (NEM) proceeding.  The decision, issued on November 22 as D.23-11-068, applies the net billing tariff concept adopted in D.22-12-56 to virtual net metering customers (VNEM) and aggregated NEM customers (NEMA), which…

During its May 18 voting meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) voted to open a new rulemaking proceeding that will consider improvements to its permitting procedures for electric infrastructure projects that fall under its jurisdiction.  The Commission’s action is driven by increased legislative and policy interest in reducing barriers to energy infrastructure development to…

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) is weighing party comments on implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 2143.  Enacted last year, AB 2143 will take effect on January 1, 2024.  This bill extends existing prevailing wage requirements for public works to the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility, and any associated battery storage…

On October 14, 2022, the assigned Commissioner (Rechtschaffen) issued a proposed decision (PD) on Transportation Electrification Policy and Investment in the pending rulemaking (R.) 18-12-006 before the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission).  Commission approval of the PD would adopt a new Transportation Electrification Framework (TEF) to guide utility investments in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and would authorize $1 billion in ratepayer funding for the first five years of the TE program, known as Funding Cycle 1 (FC1).  In recognition of the rapidly evolving EV landscape, the PD proposes to cap spending during first three years of FC1, which is a five-year funding cycle, at $600 million, and access to the remaining $400 million budget is held until the Commission issues a “Mid-Cycle Assessment” decision to determine whether modifications to or termination of the program budget is warranted.  Notably, the Commission would prohibit Fortune 1000 companies from receiving any FC1 rebates, regardless of whether they propose to operate in a disadvantaged community. Continue Reading Commission Issues Long-Awaited Proposed Decision in Transportation Electrification (TE) Proceeding, Setting a Framework for California TE Policy and Investment

On June 30, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 205 (“AB 205”), which, among various other things, expands the siting jurisdiction of the California Energy Commission (“CEC”) to include non-thermal generating facilities, such as solar and wind projects, with a capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) or more.  The CEC’s siting jurisdiction was previously…

The California Energy Commission (CEC) hosted a workshop on Tuesday, June 14 to discuss its recently issued (June 10) proposal to deploy federal electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure funding under the NEVI Program authorized by President Biden’s federal infrastructure bill signed into law late last year.[1]

The CEC held the workshop in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which is jointly charged with implementing the state’s NEVI funding. After taking public comment on the draft plan (comments are due by June 28),[2] California will submit its final plan for approval with the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office) on August 1. Federal funding will be released to each state upon approval of the final deployment plans, which is expected by September 30, 2022. The CEC expects to develop the grant funding details later this summer/fall and to release the grant funding opportunity in the winter of 2022. This plan anticipates the first chargers under NEVI project funding should be operational in Q2 of 2025, with full buildout completed by 2030.Continue Reading California Releases Its Draft Deployment Plan for Federal Funding Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program

On May 20, 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) issued a proposed decision (PD) that would, among other things, adopt Southern California Edison’s (SCE) 24-hour-slice proposal as the new resource adequacy (RA) framework applicable to load-serving entities (LSEs) under the CPUC’s jurisdiction.  Generally, the proposal would require each LSE to show that it has enough capacity to meet its specific gross-load profile, including a planning-reserve margin, or PRM, for all 24 hours for the “worst day” of each month.  The “worst day” would be defined as the day of the month that has the highest coincident-peak-load forecast.  This new RA framework would likely be implemented in 2025, with 2024 serving as a “test year” for the new framework.

The Commission initially began examining potential changes to its RA framework due to significant and ongoing changes in California’s generation-resource mix, with the increasing reliance on variable resources such as solar and wind, and use-limited resources, such as energy storage and demand response, as well as the retirement of older natural gas generation.  The Commission solicited proposals for a new RA framework starting in 2020, and in 2021 it tentatively adopted Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) slice-of-day proposal in decision 21-07-014.  The Commission ordered a series of workshops to further develop the proposal, culminating in a workshop report submitted March 1, 2022.  During the workshops, two alternate proposals were developed:  SCE’s 24-hour-slice proposal, and a two-slice proposal developed by Gridwell Consulting.  The parties generally favored one of the two alternate proposals, rather than the PG&E slice-of-day proposal.  The selection of SCE’s 24-hour-slice proposal will set the direction for further development of the new RA framework.
Continue Reading The California Public Utilities Commission Issues Proposed Decision on New Resource Adequacy Framework